How to process the unresolved physical aspects of exposure to traumatic events in children?

How to process the unresolved physical aspects of exposure to traumatic events in children? Memories of children who experienced negative or traumatic events tend to be stored in the form of images, cognitions, emotions or bodily sensations. Young children are limited in their ability to understand, identify and express the experience of a traumatic event. In these children, preverbal traumatic experiences appear to be primarily stored as physical (sensory and bodily) memories that as such can play an important role in the aetiology and maintenance of a broad range of symptomatology. Because recognition of these manifestations of underlying unresolved memories is difficult, too few children receive adequate treatment for their trauma. This presentation will focus on how to recognize, activate and process the unresolved physical aspects of traumatic memories in children aged 0-4 years and children > 4 years who have experienced a so called 'preverbal trauma' or were exposed to a 'physical' traumatic event such as a rape, strangulation, choking, physical abuse or some kind of intrusive medical treatment. The presentation will be illustrated with video fragments of the EMDR process in children of different ages with a diversity of complaints.

Conference

English

Carlijn de Roos

de Roos, C. (2016,June). How to process the unresolved physical aspects of exposure to traumatic events in children? Keynote presented at the at the 17th EMDR Europe Association Conference, The Hague